Reflection #2 - Alternative Education Programs

Interview for Alternative Education Programs Director

Lynn Price interviewed for a position within the Post Modern Independent School District on September 26, 2010 for the position of Alternative Education Programs Director. As a newly hired candidate, the position's primary responsibility will be to revise the school district's alternative education program. With this in mind, the interview revolved around three integral questions to determine Ms. Price's expertise in the field.

QUESTION #1: What is your definition and vision for an ideal alternative education program?

ANSWER: The definition of an alternative education program in a public school is a program set up to serve students who are less than successful in the traditional school environment and are at risk of academic failure or dropping out of school due to behavioral issues or learning disabilities. The alternative program is designed to foster an educational setting in which these learners will have the opportunity to achieve success through smaller teacher-student ratios, flexible schedules, and differentiated curricula individualized to accommodate learning needs (www.michigan.gov/documents/Def_of_Alt70316_7._Ed.pdf ). My vision for Post Modern ISD is to make revisions to an already acceptable alternative education program and provide guidance to develop a highly effective program for students who have had a "mismatch ... between the [traditional] structure of schools and the cultural, social, and linguistic background of some segments of the student poplulation" (Gable, Bullock, & Evans, 2006, p.6). Implementing a creative approach focused on providing for the individual needs of the students needing such placement with the goal of developing these learners to be prepared for successful autonomous living will replace the previous philosophy of attention primarily to remediation and attempting to correct problems. A high quality program with active, engaging, and relevant academic instruction to proactively appropriate positive student behavior will be the vision and goal consistent with the research that correlates students who are instructed through the use of curriculum that is based on their learning levels and interests and is actively engaging will result in less inappropriate behaviors (Hughes & Adera, 2006).

QUESTION #2: Can you provide an example of how successful alternative education programs

have positively influenced students?

ANSWER: Due to the legal responsibilites of school districts to provide educational access on an equitable basis for all students, a model alternative education program provides for this opportunity to those students who are not succeeding in the regular school setting due to diverse needs preempting their success. Today these schools or programs function to facilitate students in at-risk situations from dropping out of school. Since these students are typically secondary students needing to gain credits that are lacking for graduation or are court-appointed to stay in school, the need to be presented with a quality alternative program to help them overcome previous underachievement is essential (http://www.dropoutprevention.org/effective-strategies/alternative-schooling). An example of one such successful alternative education progam that has positvely influenced students is the Twilight Academy in a large southeastern Pennsylvania urban high school. Many students in this high school were demonstrating a lack of success for various reasons due to academic failure, disruptive behavior, and poor attendance with the rate of students dropping out of school increasing. Enrollment in the Twilight Academy
afforded these students the opportunity to find success through "individualized attention and a focus on skills that would enable these students to be successful in the world" (D'Angelo & Zemanick, 2009, p. 212). In addition to the academic component of the Twilight Academy, it included a work component to prepare students for life in the real world. The guidance counselor was closely involved in this program, and the highly trained teachers were mentors to the working students. Crucial to this program was a small student/teacher proportion. A major goal of the Twilight Academy was to promote positive self-esteem in the students by building confidence and giving the learners the opportunity to be successful. Professional development was key to the teacher preparation with the academy as they focused on relavent, ongoing training for their unique educational positions in the alternative program. An effective curriculum that was comprehensive and developed appropriately to meet the individual needs of the students was supplemented with computer programs for remediation and extension to the curriculum as needed while units of study were tied to authentic learning. The motto in relation to discipline at the Twilight Academy was "give respect to get respect" for the basis of success. Building of relationships came as trust was gained between students and teachers. With the growth of this trust came the academic achievement never imagined possible (Ferris-Berg & Schroeder, 2003 as cited in D'Angelo & Zemanick, 2009). The Twilight Academy began with twelve students hoping to graduate of which eleven succeeded. After enrolling in summer school, the twelfth student also earned her diploma. Out of those twelve, four of the students enrolled in community college. As with the Twilight Academy, it would be my earnest, committed duty to develop such a model program for Post Modern ISD for the success of students who have been less than successful in the past with regular programs.

QUESTION #3: What components and measures do you believe are necessary toward not
only building, but maintaining a best practices model?

ANSWER: While several components constitute an effective alternative education program, it is vital that the program target the social, emotional, and behavioral development of students. The need for attendance at an alternative education facility predicates the "deficits in social competence ... consistently identified as risk factors for substance abuse, mental health issues, delinquency, and low self-concept (Johns et al., 2002 as cited in Hughes & Adera, 2006). If the social and emotional needs of these students are addressed through available counseling services and the building of positive relationships with the teachers in small classroom settings, the learners will be predisposed to building academic skills as well as life skills. Falling under the umbrella component of social/emotional development, the alternative education program will ideally be maintained by ongoing assessment of academic and nonacademic achievement, a curriculum that is flexible with focus on academic functionality related to real world circumstances, strategies for instruction that are documented best practice methods, the element of goals for transition to successful mainstream settings of education and ultimately community life, and appropriate personnel and resources for meeting the needs of learners with disabilities (Gable et al., 2006). Ultimately, the measures for this alternative education program intended to bring Post Modern ISD into the arena of a best practices model include realistic evaluation of the program by looking at what has been successful in the past as well as considering the examples of success from other school districts for possible implementation as appropriate for the population of this school district. It will be important to release measures and procedures that are not effectively correlated to valid research with the intent to replace those with practices that have their basis in empirical evidence. Ongoing evaluation of the Post Modern Alternative Education Program and decisions made based on data collection will result in providing information to identify strengths and weaknesses of this program to help us evolve into a model program. As program director for your alternative education program, I can assure you that I would be tireless in my efforts to nurture development and growth of these components and measures so that teachers and staff would be highly qualified to meet the needs of the learners and their families to remedy their risk for failure (Hughes & Adera, 2006). Your consideration of me for the new director position of Post Modern's alternative education program would be most appreciated. I look forward to answering further questions in the future if needed and hope to have the opportunity to collaborate with the professionals of this school district to foster success for all students.